After
the yam is roasted, the _Libia,_ or country doctor, takes the yam,
scrapes it into a sort of meal, and divides it into halves; he then
takes one piece, and places it on the lips of the person who is
going to eat the new yam. The eater then blows up the steam from the
hot yam, and afterwards pokes the whole into his mouth, and says, 'I
thank God for being permitted to eat the new yam'; he then begins to
chew it heartily, with fish likewise."
Among the Nandi of British East Africa, when the eleusine grain is
ripening in autumn, every woman who owns a corn-field goes out into
it with her daughters, and they all pluck some of the ripe grain.
Each of the women then fixes one grain in her necklace and chews
another, which she rubs on her forehead, throat, and breast. No mark
of joy escapes them; sorrowfully they cut a basketful of the new
corn, and carrying it home place it in the loft to dry. As the
ceiling is of wickerwork, a good deal of the grain drops through the
crevices and falls into the fire, where it explodes with a crackling
noise.
Pages:
1332
1333
1334
1335
1336
1337
1338
1339
1340
1341
1342
1343
1344
1345
1346
1347
1348
1349
1350
1351
1352
1353
1354
1355
1356